Diary of an Arcade Employee

The 1986 Saturday Morning Lineup on NBC

What a lineup NBC had in 1986: Kissyfur, Gummi Bears, Smurfs, Punky Brewster, The Chipmunks, Foofur, Kidd Video and of course One to Grow On. I would get up on 6 am on Saturdays just so I could enjoy a full morning of cartoons and a half a box of corn flakes swimming in sugar. Usually the high sugar level had me jumping around like a humming bird, but once NBC put Gummi Bears, Smurfs and The Chipmunks together they had me hooked. Some of these titles may not be familiar to all you so lets take a closer look at them.

Kissyfur

Kissyfur was the story of a bear (Kissyfur) and his father who leave the circus to live in the swamps of Paddlecab County. They use the skills they acquired in the human world to protect the denizens of Paddlecab from the gators, Floyd and Jolene. Kissyfur ran from September 6, 1986 – February 28, 1987 for a total of 46 episodes. Sadly Kissyfur is not available on DVD, but you can still manage to find home brewed collections of it on eBay every once in a while. Of course, you can always check YouTube.

Gummi Bears

Oh Gummi Bear, how I miss you. Often overshadowed by its more successful predecessor Duck Tale, I have always thought Gummi Bears the superior product. While I do love Scrooge McDuck, the story of a dying race of magical bears in a semi-medieval setting will always be my first choice. Not sure why Disney had let this property sit on the shelf. I would definitely buy some direct to DVD Gummi Bear adventures. Gummi Bears ran from September 14, 1985 – September 7, 1991 for a total of 95 episodes. Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Vol. 1 – Seasons 1-3 was released on DVD in 2006. We are still waiting on Volume 2 and rumor is that it might be released this year.

Smurfs

The Smurfs got their start in 1981 and ran until 1990 for a whopping 256 episodes, making it one of the most successful cartoons in history. Most of you know the show revolves around the antics of the blue mushroom dwelling forest dwellers, but did you know that an animated motion picture “Smurfs” is in development? The movie is scheduled for a 2010 releases. Rumors about casting have been circulating for over a year now, but nothing seems to be set in stone. It is all very mysterious. I have reached out to some people, so hopefully more info will be posted on the site soon. The Smurfs – Season One, Vol. One
and The Smurfs: Season One, Vol. 2 are available on DVD. Season 2 is supposed to be released this year.

It’s Punky Brewster

“It’s Punky Brewster” was the short-lived spin off of the live action sitcom “Punky Brewster”. The cartoon used all of the same characters and actors from the original show with the addition of a magical gopher (yup) named, Glomer. Glomer could magically transport Punky and pals around the world. Which allowed her to get into all sorts of misadventures. The show ran for 2 seasons from September 14, 1985 – December 6, 1986 for a total of 26 episodes. It is currently not available on DVD, but if you want to hang out some time, I have the whole series on VHS.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Anyone who grew up in the 1980s is well aware of the “Alvin and the Chipmunks” animated series. The show was wildly successful running from September 17, 1983 – December 1, 1990 for a total of 102 episodes. Of course the Chipmunks did not start in the eighties, they started 25 years earlier in 1958. For more information on Chipmunks history, checkout their official website. Many different Chipmunks are available on DVD, but so far a sequential volume collection has not been released.

Foofur

Foofur ran for 2 seasons on NBC from September 13, 1986 – February 18, 1988 for a total of 46 episodes. The show, produced by Hanna-Barbera, revolved around the aforementioned Foofur, a blue hound dog. Foofur’s voice was supplied by the very talented Frank Welker of Transformer’s fame. Foofur is not available on DVD but the VHS, Foofur:Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog, is available on Amazon.

Kidd Video

Kidd Video and his band are kidnapped by Master Blaster, and transported to a cartoon world called The Flipside. There they are rescued by a fairy named Glitter. They then spend the rest of the series trying to help people in this animated realm, while at the same time trying to get home. It is sort of like “Dungeons and Dragons” with instruments. Kidd Video was an attempt by the networks to MTV-ize Staurday mornings and the effort was less then successful. The show ran from September 15, 1984 – December 7, 1985 for only 26 episodes. At the time I remember thinking the show was trying way too hard. In retrospect…this show is awesome!! Kidd Video is not available on DVD, but I desperately want it.

One to Grow On

These much referenced PSAs ran from 1983-1989. They were sometimes preachy, borderline heavy handed and always great. Of course greatness is all you can expect from a series that brings together such disparate talents as 227’s Jackée Harry and Riptide’s Perry King. “One to Grow” has never been released as a collection in any format, but many have been posted by enthusiasts on YouTube.

9 thoughts on “The 1986 Saturday Morning Lineup on NBC”

I was almost always a CBS kid, but guess I watched a little more of NBC back in the day than I thought. In September 1986 when this schedule started, I was not quite four. However, I definitely remember watching that Punky Brewster cartoon and those One to Grow On segments. I even had some Punky Brewster snow boots.

Kid Video actually had ORIGINAL songs and ORIGINAL videos too! Some were a bit cheeze ball but I remember it being really fun to watch when I was a kid. I always thought this would’ve been better as a live action show. I always wondered if they would have a soundtrack released but they never did.

Oof…I was probably a little too old for these (I was a freshman in high school, so yeah, pretty sure I found these twinge-inducing), but it was also right about the same time that I started watching the classics on the independent stations on weekday afternoons, getting myself hooked on Top Cat, Tom & Jerry, Looney Tunes, and pretty much anything Tex Avery touched. ;)